Explainer: What Happened in California, and why millions will sue or leave the State

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Explainer: What Happened in California, and why millions will sue or leave the State

An Explainer: What Just Went Down in California (and why millions will sue or leave the State)

There has been a lot of unconstitutional legislation recently signed into law in California, ranging from bills (now law) that directly impact and infringe upon numerous Constitutional rights ~ ranging from bills designed directly to put the State between individuals and their 1st Amendment (including press freedom and right of assembly) rights, 2nd Amendment rights, due process (5th and 14th Amendment) rights, and much more.

But for the purposes of this post, I'll focus on the bills, signed into law today, that directly infringe upon the 2nd Amendment right.
As you'll see from looking closely at this post, the California Assembly (though perhaps not the California Senate) seems to have the Governor's ear.

First, I'll provide here an overview of the bills that survived the Legislative session, and made it to the Governor's desk - and what he did. If he vetoed it, I've simply put "VETOED" next to it, if he signed it into law, I've put "SIGNED" next to it. There are some statements corresponding to the Governor's vetoes explaining why he vetoed certain proposed bill on his website - I've provided a link to them here, so you can view his reasons for vetoing by looking at the link next to each bill below. If he provided a message to accompany his signing of a bill, I've linked to those here also:

AB 169 - An unconstitutional bill which attempts to criminalize the act of repairing a handgun. VETOED
AB 180 - An unconstitutional bill which attempts to turn Oakland into a prison camp by making Oakland's gun control more strict than California's. VETOED
SB 299 - An unconstitutional bill which would criminalize law-abiding gun owners who lose and then find their firearm. VETOED
SB 374 - An unconstitutional gun ban bill which would attempt to make all semiautomatic centerfire rifles, and more, illegal in California. VETOED
SB 475 - An unconstitutional bill, would make firearm sales subject to whims of Boards of Supervisors San Mateo and San Francisco. VETOED
SB 567 - An unconstitutional bill which attempts to turn any shotgun with a "smooth or rifled bore" into a destructive device by law. VETOED
SB 755 - An unconstitutional bill which proposes bans, fines, and infractions for people who commit certain types of common misdemeanors. VETOED

AB 48 - An unconstitutional bill which would criminalize, imprison, and fine ($1000), anyone who lends, buys or receives magazines above 10 rounds. SIGNED
AB 170 - An unconstitutional bill which attempts to make 'assault weapons' illegal to own for any "entity." This bill violates ATF trust regulations. SIGNED
AB 231 - An unconstitutional bill which attempts to fine and imprison gun owners who have children. SIGNED
AB 500 - An unconstitutional bill, attempts to enforce "ammunition vendor permits" and establish databases on gun owners. SIGNED
AB 538 - An unconstitutional bill, which attempts to selectively infringe upon 1st Amendment rights for persons also exercising 2nd Amendment. SIGNED
AB 539 - An unconstitutional bill, which attempts to use FFLs to "store" guns unconstitutionally seized from gun owners. SIGNED
AB 711 - An unconstitutional ammo ban bill (bans all use of lead ammo for hunting across all of California) which disregards case law and fails to provides any habitat-specific nexus to its ammo requirement. SIGNED
AB 1131 - An unconstitutional bill which attempts to make five-year bans based on recommendations of psychologists who act as State agents. SIGNED
SB 127 - An unconstitutional bill. Original language proposed "removing authority of the court," modified to accelerate State data collection. SIGNED
SB 363 - An unconstitutional bill which would make it a criminal act to walk briefly away from an unloaded firearm when one is cleaning or repairing it. SIGNED
SB 683 - An unconstitutional bill, would impose a firearms safety certificate requirement even on antique / Curio and Relic long guns transfers. SIGNED

In essence, what the Governor has done is criminalize the exercise of the 2nd Amendment in California, while vetoing only some of the unconstitutional bills that hundreds of thousands (at least) of Californians demanded be vetoed.

There is a lot of material to challenge in court here. I recommend, especially if you are in California, that you read the text of the signed bills for yourselves by searching for those bills at the Legislative Information site.

If you plan on remaining in California I recommend that you obtain one of these notices - put it on your door and on your safe. You may want to carry a copy of that second item on your person as well as a reference card.

For those initiating lawsuits (no doubt this will be a lot of Californians) I recommend at least initially seeing this site. You may also want to do some research on Civil Code 52.1(b) before you consult a lawyer to consider how you might want to frame your case - the site describing that law is here. That California law, as quoted, states:"Any individual whose exercise or enjoyment of rights secured
by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or of rights
secured by the Constitution or laws of this state, has been
interfered with, or attempted to be interfered with, as described in
subdivision (a), may institute and prosecute in his or her own name
and on his or her own behalf a civil action for damages, including,
but not limited to, damages under Section 52, injunctive relief, and
other appropriate equitable relief to protect the peaceable exercise
or enjoyment of the right or rights secured."

I foresee literally millions of lawsuits being launched to sue the State of California in the very near future, and I hope that you, dear reader, are one of those that initiates one.

Current lawsuits that I am aware of against the State of California on gun rights issues (no doubt I am missing quite a few, and I hope every gun owner in California will consider suing the State to overturn these recently passed unconstitutional laws mentioned in this post):

Again, don't wait for the NRA or Calguns to sue to overturn these laws - they may or may not. But if you work with your family, friends, and neighbors to sue the State of California based on all of the unconstitutional laws passed today, and if numerous other Californians do as well, it will be like a beehive tossed at the California legislature. They won't be able to deal with it all, and the majority of these laws will likely be overturned.

I can certainly understand those who are at this point ready to leave California. I'm seriously considering doing so myself. But at the same time, whoever decides to stay should defend their rights by using all means available through the courts. It's time to start suing the tail off of the State of California, and everyone should do it. Consult your lawyer now and let's get it done.

For those who are not in the State of California, I urge you not to lay the blame for this at the foot of ordinary Californians. This is the doing of the Legislature and the Governor. I live in California and have been very active in trying to defeat all of these bills. Many other Californians have been as well and we are rightly alarmed by what has gone on. I am a gun owner, but my friends here in California who are not gun owners consider the developments here, both in the 2nd Amendment realm and in other areas (in terms of the numerous bills that infringe upon other rights, as well) to be, as one of my friends put it, "scary." There is simply no way to hold the Legislature and Governor accountable or to force them to realize that they are acting unconstitutionally. The only thing that will change this is the courts and elections.

Elections are not the most likely avenue for change to happen in California due to the prevailing politic and the general unwillingness of the Legislature to listen to anyone (although the Legislature seems more than happy to give special privileges to psychologists and to anyone who is not in the country legally).

We may see a few legislators lose their seats, or see a recall effort targeting some, or a lot, of California Assemblymembers, Senators, and perhaps the Governor as well. But where the rubber meets the road is, at least in California, going to be in the court system, and as things develop, in courts outside of California after the appeals go further. Because of the scope of the unconstitutional laws passed, many people who are not Californians are now affected by these laws (for example, the ammo ban law, which essentially prohibits hunting, and will likely be effective before its implementation date of 2019 if not challenged in the court). If you cease doing business in California or decide not to hunt here, that will not change California's laws - it will only alter where you spend your money. If, like Centerfire and some big gun businesses, you refuse to sell much of your inventory to California, citing California's laws, it will change nothing. The only thing that significantly alter our situation in California is if you sue, sue, sue (and if you are living here, a recall effort sure wouldn't hurt). I urge all who are affected by these laws to sue, and to do so as soon as is reasonable and possible with the advice of your legal counsel.

If you are an employee of the California government or of the Governor's / Attorney General's office here in California... see you in court!We are going to sue your pants off.

If there was a mass exodus out of the state it may make the politicians reconsider some of their stances.

Agreed... although, I think the California politicians are trying really hard to ignore the exodus that is already occurring. There's a pretty good study about it (the California outmigration / exodus / millions fleeing the State of California) -- right here.

I am reminded for some reason of a quote I heard somewhere... "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
(Credit goes to Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus [27 October 1466 – 12 July 1536], the originator of this phrase, and more recently, to the makers of the Minority Report.)

If there was a mass exodus out of the state it may make the politicians reconsider some of their stances.

No it wouldn't, they would cheer that these malcontents that demand constitutional rights and own guns have left the state, for these are the people that stand between them and their liberal utopia they seek, further empowering them and their agenda to ensure that only cops and of course criminals in CA have guns.

Personally I cannot imagine living in such a state, I would have to take blood pressure pills every hour.

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. Without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things.But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” ― Steven Weinberg

they can HAVE that place It was intolerable already in the 80's around LA and I'm sure it's reached up beyond Sacramento by now. Me and the new wife are going to AZ, for a few years. Not sure after that. If we have the houses in the hands of managers, and I have a good net biz, then we'll probably live up north for the summer and down south for the winter, pulling a trailer in our two "mining claims". for 6 months at a time. $120 a year per claim (20 acres each).

Agreed... although, I think the California politicians are trying really hard to ignore the exodus that is already occurring. There's a pretty good study about it (the California outmigration / exodus / millions fleeing the State of California) -- right here.

I am reminded for some reason of a quote I heard somewhere... "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."
(Credit goes to Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus [27 October 1466 – 12 July 1536], the originator of this phrase, and more recently, to the makers of the Minority Report.)

Cheers

Personally, I don't think that they are trying to ignore it, they just don't care. As long as they are in power, that's what's important to them. And the more people that disagree with the politics there who leave, the more people who agree (or are indifferent) are left behind to keep them in office.

Personally, I don't think that they are trying to ignore it, they just don't care. As long as they are in power, that's what's important to them. And the more people that disagree with the politics there who leave, the more people who agree (or are indifferent) are left behind to keep them in office.

Agreed. And as a person who still lives in California (but I don't think I will be here for a whole lot longer - depending on economic issues and job search(es), which are on top of the legal problems we face in California, really pointing me away from being in the State in the future - I feel compelled to remark that we've got 25% of our population living in poverty here, and on top of everything else, the Governor just passed legislation to give gang members a free pass, keep them from being deported, and even signed a bill giving them free college education) - basically, our State (which was once a really great place, regardless of what you may say) is now totally screwed. I also agree with you, 9shooter, that the more of us that leave based on disagreement with California politics, the more who agree with California's present politic remain. But what choice do we have? California is a failed state. People have been leaving it for years, as I pointed out in the study I cited. As quoted from the study's executive summary: "The data show a pattern of movement over the past decade from California mainly to states in the western and southern U.S.: Texas, Nevada, and Arizona, in that order, are the top magnet states. Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah follow. Rounding out the top ten are two southern states: Georgia and South Carolina." What, you thought we came to this realization just now that the State is not working for us? Like it or not, here we come, fleeing California -- and hoping you won't turn us away at your state's borders. Respect and aid people like myself, that are essentially becoming political refugees from California. This will continue to happen. Naturally, for the time I remain here, I will defend my rights via the courts and through whatever means make sense, but long-term, California is just not sustainable as a place for anyone with common sense. More people will be leaving and the numbers leaving will increase. That's a fact, borne out by anyone's observation of the data available. Sorry to pollute your state with my California stink, but I just don't think I can handle it here for much longer.